Marketing in a Crisis: In truly unprecedented times there is still opportunity

We are living through unprecedented times right now. Never before in history have so many elements of the life we all take for granted been affected to such a degree :-

Families are adapting to school closures and struggling to maintain a sense of normality in the midst of dwindling supplies and general uncertainty.

Vulnerable members of society are currently facing not only their fears of the virus itself, but also the relentless loneliness that must come with their efforts to self-isolate

The business world is facing unique challenges to adapt to mandated closures of non-essential services as well as uncertain supply lines and cash flows. Some have had to shutter up and wait for the future to unfold, while others have been able to venture into the brave new world of virtual office spaces and staff networking on a previously unprecedented scale.

The legal industry, in particular, has been ideally positioned to segue into the virtual office space and the remainder of this post will aim to provide both data and inspiration as to how to best respond to the unique challenges we are all facing at this time.

Answer People’s Questions

First of all, it is important to stress that right now is an excellent opportunity for the legal industry to step up and become a community knowledge resource. Millions of ordinary people are in desperate need of answers to very specific legal questions that could have life changing effects on their lives. Hundreds of law firms currently have staff with more than the usual amount of time on their hands. This is an excellent opportunity to get busy improving the informational content of your existing service pages, as well as to craft well formatted value-adding blog posts that specifically inform people as to their legal rights. Even if such information does not directly lead to a sale, brand positioning can be effective.

Below we have created a list of hot trending topics that are seeing unprecedented levels of organic search queries. We have used a variety of sources to compile this information, including Google’s Search Queries report, AnswerThePublic and Google Autocomplete results and strongly suggest that law firms that have not done so already, consider incorporating some or all of these topics into their blog posting schedule.

Employment

Job retention scheme, HMRC job retention scheme

Furloughed worker, furlough leave, HMRC furlough

Can my employer stop paying me?

Who gets redundancy pay?

Business

Coronavirus: what employers need to know

coronavirus key workers

Coronavirus employee retention

Coronavirus grants, government coronavirus grants

Wills

Wills solicitor (various formats)

Lasting power of attorney, general power of attorney (various formats)

Joint bank accounts post death

Can you make a will online?

Property

Coronavirus help for homeowners

Coronavirus mortgage relief

Mortgage relief on home loans

How will Coronavirus affect my house sale?

Family

Child maintenance coronavirus

Children access coronavirus

Coronavirus advice for the vulnerable

Council tax relief for vulnerable households

Courts

Changes to civil court process amid covid-19

Changes to criminal court process amid covid-19​

Relevant Data- Search Query Trends

Google Trends is a website by Google that analyses the popularity of top search queries in Google Search across various regions and languages. The website uses graphs to compare the search volume of different queries over time.

As you can see there are extreme spikes in all Coronavirus related phrases.

Job retention scheme

Furlough leave

Self employed Coronavirus

Force majeure event

Wills solicitor

Child access Coronavirus

Coronavirus solicitor

Traffic levels March 2020

Conclusions

We have presented you with evidence of extreme organic search volume in areas specifically relevant to the legal industry. Consider using the above topics as a starting point as well as your own experience drawn from recent client contacts. In this time of general upheaval, you may be able to transform your blogs and service pages into valued community knowledge resources while adding value to your brand in the long run. A win-win situation for all parties.

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